Safety belt assembly



Sheet of 4 July 8, 1969 R.` H. SMITH E'Ax.

SAFETY BELT ASSEMBLY Filed r.June e. 196e July 8, 1969 R. H. SMITH ETALl 3,453,699

' SAFETY BELT ASSEMBLY Filed .June 9. 1966 sheet o? of 4 NVENTO/ffrazwr/sf July 8, 1969 R. H. SMITH ETAL `SAFETY BELT ASSEMBLY SheetFiled June 9, 1966 i fray/|1596' July s, 1969 R. H. SMITH ETAL 3,453,699

I SAFETY BELT ASSEMBLY Filed .June 9. 1966y sheet 4 of 4 #fray/unis?United States Patent O 3,453,699 SAFETY BELT ASSEMBLY Robert H. Smith,Southfield, and John J. Lenosky,

Highland Park, Mich., assignors to Chrysler Corporation, Highland Park,Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed .lune 9, 1966, Ser. No. 556,468Int. Cl. A44b 1.1/25; A62b 35 02 U.S. Cl. 24-77 3 Claims ABSTRACT F THEDISCLOSURE Safety buckle assembly having a rotatable bar around whichthe belt is trained, the bar having unlimited rotation when the buckleand the tongue of the assembly are separated to permit the belt to haverolling contact with the bar, and locking end heads on the bar, whichare locked in a txed position by the tongue upon insertion of the latterin the buckle to prevent further rotation of the bar. The buckleassembly is incorporated in a belt assembly which has a shoulder portionthe end of which is attached to an inertia reel which prevents rapiddispensing of the belt.

This invention relates to safety belt assemblies, more particularly to asafety belt and buckle assembly for seated occupants of vehicles such asautomobiles, airplanes, and boats, for example.

In many of the seat belt assemblies presently available, the belt passesthrough a lbuckle member which is adapted to grip the belt tightly whenthe anchored end of the belt extends from the buckle member in oneparticular direction. Before an increase in the length of belt betweenan `anchored end thereof and the buckle member can be made, it isnecessary to tilt the buckle member to a certain angle relative to thebelt. This releases a locking mechanism and the buckle member may thenbe moved along the belt. While this procedure does not aifect the safetycharacteristics of the assembly, it does mean that a certain amount ofmanual manipulation may be necessary prior to latching the 'bucklemember to a tongue member.

One of the principal objects of this invention is the provision of asafety belt buckle assembly in which the force required to pull the beltthrough the assembly is considerably less than required in many priorknown assemblies.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a seat beltbuckle assembly in which the frictional wear on the belt as the latteris drawn through the buckle assembly is less than many prior knownassemblies.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a seatbelt buckle assembly of the class described having a buckle member whichmay be adjusted to various positions along the belt to increase thelength of belt between the buckle member and an anchored end of the beltprior to connection of the buckle member to tongue member and withouttilting or manipulating the buckle member in any particular manner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a safety beltassembly which may be self-adjusting after being connected across theparty intended to be protected.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a safetybelt buckle assembly which has means for automatically locking thesafety belt against movement in one direction in response to connectionof a buckle member of the assembly to a tongue member of the assembly.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a safety beltassembly which includes a shoulder belt portion integrally connected toa lap belt portion, and in which the protection afforded by the lapportion is entirely ice independent of the protection afforded by theshoulder portion, thereby increasing the overall protection provided bythe safety belt.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a seat beltassembly which automatically moves out of the way of the person usingthe samel after the buckle mechanism is disconnected, and which willassume a predetermined position after disconnection so that the personmay readily grasp and reconnect the buckle mechanism when desired.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a safety buckleassembly which, while eiective in securely gripping a -belt thereinagainst movement in one direction, permits the belt to be moved inanother direction without being impedimentary.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a safety buckleassembly which is simple and economical in construction and reliable inoperation.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent as the descriptionprogresses.

In the accompanying drawings, in which one embodiment of this inventionis illustrated,

FIG. l is a side elevation of a buckle assembly of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the buckle assembly shown in FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an end elevation of the buckle assembly locking from theright-hand side of FIG. l;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing certain parts in a movedposition;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged section taken along line 7-7 of FIG. l;

FIG. 8 is a front elevation of a seat structure with a safety belt and-buckle assembly by this invention attached thereto; and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of a dispensing and retractingdevice forming part of the assembly shown in FIG. 8, certain parts beingbroken away and other parts being shown in broken lines for clarity.

In the drawings like reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

Referring now to the drawings, a safety or seat belt buckle assembly ofthis invention is generally indicated at 1 in FIG. l. Assembly 1 isformed of a buckle member 3 and a tongue member 5 adapted to beconnected together by a latching device 7 (FIG. 3). One end of a belt 9is connected to tongue 5 and another belt ll1 passes through abelt-movement control mechanism d3.

Buckle member 3 includes a frame 15 having a base 17 and upstandingsidewalls 19 and 21. Overhanging portions 23 and 25 extend inwardly fromthe upper edges of sidewalls 19 and 21, respectively. Control mechanism13 includes a bar or roller 27 extending `across the buckle member 3between sidewalls 19 and 21. Bar 27 is preferably knurled to providefriction surface around which belt 11 is trained. Support pins 29 extendoutwardly from opposite ends of bar 27 in an axial direction into curvedslots 31 in sidewalls 19 and 21 for slideably and rotatably mounting thebar 27. Each slot 31 has a rst portion 33 which extends upwardly frombase 17 and a shorter` second portion 35 extending laterally from theupper end 3 sections. The end heads 37 are adapted to lock the bar 27against rotation as will be made apparent hereafter.

A reaction member 43 extends across the buckle member 3 into retainingholes 45 (FIGS. 2 and 3) in sidewalls 19 and 21. Member 43 has a curvedface 47 adjacent bar 27 for engaging one side of belt 11 as the latterpasses around bar 27. The end portions of bar 27 are relieved asindicated at 49 and 51 (FIGS. 2, 3 and 4) to permit the end heads 37 tobe rotated without interference when the bar 27 is in the position shownin FIG. 2. If the bar 27 and end heads 37 are not held in the positionshown in FIGS. 3 and 4, i.e., if the bar and end heads are free toassume the position shown in FIG. 6, the application of tension oneither belt portion 11a or 11b, regardless of the angle between thebuckle member 3 and the belt portion on which tension is applied, causesthe bar 27 to rotate and the support pins 29 to be moved toward thelower end of slots 31, thus permitting the belt to pass freely throughthe buckle member 3.

If however, the bar 27 and end heads 37 are held in the position shownin FIGS. 3 and 4, the belt portion 11b is clamped between bar 27 and thecurved face 47 of reaction member 43, and any tension applied to beltportion 11a only increases the clutching effect exerted by Ibar 27 andreaction member 43, thereby preventing movement of the belt through thebuckle member 3 in one direction. The application of a tension force onbelt portion 11b which is proportionally greater than the tension forceon belt portion 11a, will cause portion 11b to slide in clockwisedirection as viewed in FIG. 3 around bar 27. Thus, the belt 11 may bepulled through the buckle member 3 when the bar 27 and end heads 37 arein the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 by subjecting belt portion 11b totension.

The bar 27 and end heads 37 are moved from a freely rotatable positionsuch as shown in FIG. 6, in which the belt may be easily pulled throughthe buckle member 3 by subjecting either belt portion 11a or 11b totension, to a locked position such as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in whichthe belt is held against movement when belt portion 11a is subjected totension, but is not held against movement when portion 11b is subjectedto tension, by the insertion of tongue member 5 into the buckle member3.

Tongue member 5 comprises a generally flat base 53 having rails 55 atthe lateral edges of the base adapted to be vertically aligned with endheads 37 when the tongue member is inserted into buckle member 3. Theleading edge portions `of rails 55 are inclined as indicated at 57 toform camming surfaces for camming end heads 37 from the position shownin FIG. 6 to the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. As will be seen byreferring to FIG. 6, the leading edges of rails 55 engage either thesides or the rounded corners of the generally square-shaped end heads 37and kick the latter to a position wherein one side of each end head 37rests on the inclined portion of the adjacent rail 55. Since supportpins 29 are coniined to slots 31, inward movement of tongue member 5causes the end heads 37, and consequently bar 27, to move upwardly untilone corner of each end head engages the inside surface of the respectiveoverhanging portion 23 or 25. Continued inward movement of tongue member5 causes the end heads to pivotaround the points of engagement with theoverhanging or backing portions 23 and 25 to the position shown in FIGS.3 and 4. This locks the end heads 37 and ybar 27 against rotation sothat the belt may be locked upon application of tension to portion 11a.

The latching device 7 for preventing withdrawal of the tongue 5 includesa locking member 59 extending across buckle member 3 and throughopenings 61 in sidewalls 19 and 21. The locking member 59 has lateralextensions 63 which extend through holes 65 in the side plates 67 of ahandle or release lever 69 for rotatably mounting the locking member.The locking member 59 is biased to swing downwardly by a at spring 71bent around a spring support or reacting arm 73 extending inwardly fromsidewall 19. The lixed end of `spring 71 is located in a hole 75 inoverhanging portion 23. The rails 55 of tongue 5 have latching notchesor recesses 77 therein into which the outer end portions of lockingmember 59 are biased when tongue 5 is inserted into buckle member 3 tothe position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The locking member 59 is buttedagainst shoulder 79 of recesses 77 to prevent the withdrawal of thetongue member.

The side plates 67 of release lever 69 are punched inwardly to provideunlatching ears or shoulders 81 (FIG. 7) which extend through openings61 below locking mem; ber 59. When the release lever 69 is in theposition shown in solid lines in FIGS. l, 2 and 3, the shoulders 81 arelocated below the locking member 59 and do not interfere with theseating thereof in recesses 77. However, if it is desired to release thetongue member 5 from the buckle member 3, the lever 69 is swung to theposition shown in broken lines in FIGS. l and 4. This causes shoulders81 to engage and swing the locking member 59 out of recesses 77 to theposition shown in FIG. 6. The tongue member 5 may then be withdrawn fromthe buckle member 3.

The sidewalls 19 and 21 are turned in at the right-hand end thereof asviewed in the drawings to provide belt guides 83 and 85, respectively,for guiding `belt portions 11a and 11b when the buckle assembly isemployed in a combination lap and shoulder safety belt assemblydescribed hereafter.

Operation of the buckle assembly 1 and connection of the tongue memberis as follows.

First, assuming the belt 9 and belt portions 11a are anchored to asupport and it is apparent that the belt portion 11a has to belengthened to extend across the person to be protected, the bucklemember 3 is grasped and pulled, without regard to the angle belt portion11a forms with the buckle member, toward the tongue member 5. Thus, itis unnecessary to hold the buckle member in any particular positionbefore the length of belt portion 11a may be increased. As the bucklemember 3 is pulled to the left as viewed in the drawings, the belt ispulled around and rotates bar 27 in a counterclockwise direction toincrease the length of `belt portion 11a.

Since the belt does not slide over the bar 27, the frictional wear onthe belt is less than the buckle assemblies which require that the beltslide over a locking member. Moreover, the force required to pull thebelt portion 11a or 11b through the assembly is less than the forcewhich would be required if the belt were slid over a nonrotatable bar.The only resistance to rotation of bar 27, when it is in the FIG. 6position, is due to friction on the ends of the bar in slot 31, and eventhis resistance is minimized by making the projections 29 smaller indiameter than the bar 27. If the buckle member 3 is pulled too far, sothat belt portion 11a is too long, it is of no consequence since thebelt portion 11a may be easily shortened after the buckle and tonguemembers are coupled.

The tongue member 5 is next inserted into buckle member 3. As mentionedpreviously, as the leading ends of the side rails 55 engage the endheads 37 the latter are cammed upwardly from the position shown in FIG.6 to the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 so that the belt may be lockedbetween the bar 27 and reaction member 43 upon the application oftension on portion 11a. This will prevent any further signicant increasein the length of portion 11a. However, if the belt portion 11a is toolong and has some slack in it, the slack may be readily removed bypulling on belt portion 11b. This causes the belt to slide clockwise asviewed in the drawings over the now nonrotatable bar 27 and reduce theslack in portion 11a.

When it is desired to release the buckle assembly, the lever 69 ismerely swung upwardly to lift the locking member out of recesses 77.

The buckle assembly 1 is shown in connection with a safety belt assembly87 of this invention in FIG. 8. Assembly 87 is connected with a seatunit 89 mounted on a support unit 91, such as a body door or chassis ofan automobile.

Safety belt assembly `87 includes a belt 11 having a lap portion 11aadapted to extend across the lap of the person to be protected and ashoulder portion 11b adapted to extend across the upper torso of theperson from the lower portion at one side thereof to the other sidethereof adjacent the shoulder. The lower end of belt 11 is anchored tothe support 91 as indicated at 93 and passes across the seat unit `89 toand through a safety buckle assembly 1. r[he tongue member 5 of assembly1 is shown as being connected to a rigid connector 95 secured to support91 at the side of seat V89 opposite anchor 93. It will be understoodthat, if desired, tongue member 5 could be connected to a belt, such asbelt 9, which is secured to support 91, rather than being attached toconnector 95.

After passing through buckle assembly 1 belt portion 11b extends acrossthe torso to a dispensing, locking and retracting mechanism 97.Mechanism 97 may be any one of various commercially available devices ofthis type, and is here shown to be an inertia lock device adapted tolock the belt against movement upon sharp braking, highspeed turns, or aminimum amount of acceleration in any direction.

Mechanism 97 comprises a housing 99 connected to seat 89 at the upperend and to one side of the back of the seat. A reel 101 is rotatablymounted in housing 99 and has one end of belt 11 connected thereto. Thereel is spring-loaded by a spring 103 to exert tension on belt 11 forwinding the latter on the reel. A gear 105 is attached to one end ofreel 101 and may be rotated by a gear sector 107 swingingly mounted inhousing 99. Fixed in the housing 99 is a saucer-shaped plate 109 havinga ball 111 thereon. A fiat disc 113 is located above plate 109 and isconnected to a bar 115 having a pin 117 extending through a slot in thehousing below gear sector 107. The mechanism 97 permits the person to beprotected to be free for movement, i.e., it permits the belt 11 to bewithdrawn from the Ireel .101 for enabling the person to reach forcontrols, etc., during normal movementsof the vehicle. This conditionexists as long as the ball 111 remains in the lower portion of plate109. However, a sudden change in direction of the vehicle, or sharpbraking, or acceleration unseats the ball and moves it toward the raisedrim of the saucer-shaped plate 109 into contact with disc 113. Thisraises the disc 113 and bar 115 until the pin 117 on the latter contactsand moves gear sector 107 into mesh with gear 105. The tension in belt11 then rotates the gear 105 and consequently sector 107 until thelatter engages a stop pin 119. This prevents further movement of sector107, gear 105 and reel 101 so that the reel operates as a dixed anchorand thus prevents dispensing of the belt 11. When conditions havereturned to normal and ball 111 returns to the center of plate 109, thereel 101 is released by the locking gears and permits the belt 11 to bepulled from the mechanism.

The safety belt assembly 87 operates in the following manner:

Assuming that tongue member 5 and buckle member 3 are separated, theSpring-loaded reel 101 retracts the belt 11 until the belt extends frommechanism 97 generally straight downwardly to anchor 93, with the buckleassembly 1 being located somewhere between the mechanism and the anchor.In this position the belt and buckle assembly is located at one side ofthe seat unit 89 in an out-of-the-way position which permits the personto slide into and out of seat unit 89 without hinderance by the belt.

After the person is seated in unit 89, the buckle assembly 1 is graspedand pulled across the persons lap toward and into engagement with tonguemember 5. As the buckle assembly 1 is moved belt 11 is dispensed frommechanism 97 and passed around the bar 27 of the buckle member 3 in amanner previously described. If the buckle assembly 1 is pulled too farfrom anchor 93 so that the lap portion 11a tends to be too long themechanism 97, if the spring therein is quite strong, will retract thebelt 11 through buckle assembly 1 until the slack is taken up in boththe shoulder portion 11b and the lap portion 11a. If it is desired totake up slack in portion 11b only, the spring in the mechanism 97 isdesigned to have less strength. Thus, the safety belt assembly may bemade to be self-adjusting.

The guides 83 and 85 (FIG. 2) orientate the belt portions 11a and 11b asthe latter approach and leave the buckle member 3.

In view of the foregoing it will be seen that the buckle assembly ofthis invention may be adjusted along the safety belt without holding itin any particular position relative to the belt. This obviates thenecessity of manual manipulation of the buckle assembly as heretoforerequired in many belt buckles. Upon interlocking the buckle member andthe tongue member, the belt is automatically locked against movement inone direction, while at the same time the belt is free to move inanother direction upon subjecting the belt to tension.

The safety belt assembly of this invention is, as described previously,self adjusting when the buckle member and tongue member are hookedtogether. Moreover, the buckle assembly 1 permits the lap portion 11a tobe locked against movement independently of the locking of the shoulderportion 11b against movement, thus providing lap protection which isindependent of shoulder protection.

While the belt portion 11b has been shown and described herein as eitherbeing free or connected to a reel mechanism attached to the seat orother support, it will be understood that for a seat belt having a lapportion only, the Ibelt portion 11b could be attached to a Iwind-up reelconnected to the buckle member 3 of the buckle assembly, if desired. Insuch case, the wind-up reel could be of relatively lightweightconstruction, since the reel and portion 11b would not take any loadbecause the portion 11a is locked in buckle member 3. Alternatively, thewind-up reel could be attached to the iloor or the seat or other supportadjacent anchor 93, for example. In this case not only the reel but thebelt portion 11b may be of light weight construction since they wouldnot be subjected to heavy loads.

While the seat unit 89 is shown in the drawings as being of thebucket-seat type, it will be understood that the term seat unit as usedherein and in the claims also refers to that portion of a so-calledbench seat structure which is normally occupied by one person. Thus,reference to one side of the seat unit also refers to one side andrearwardly of the portion of a seat. in which a person may be seated.Furthermore, it will be understood that the terms safety belt assemblyand safety buckle assembly refer to apparatus for restraining movementof a person from a seat of a moving vehicle.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been specificallydisclosed it is understood that the invention is not limited thereto, asmany variations will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. A safety belt buckle assembly comprising a buckle member and a tonguemember, said tongue member being adapted for insertion into said bucklemember, said buckle member having a top flat wall, cooperating latchingmeans on said members for connecting them together upon insertion ofsaid tongue member, manually operated means for releasing said latchingmeans to permit separation of said members, belt gripping means in saidbuckle member for securely gripping a belt passing therethrough, saidbelt gripping means comprising a reaction member, a bar mounted in saidbuckle member for sliding movement and unlimited rotation Iwhen saidbuckle and tongue members are separated, said bar being adjacent andsubstantially parallel to said reaction member, said bar being adaptedto have a belt trained around it with the belt on one side of said barpassing between said bar and said reaction member and with two beltportions extending from the bar, and locking means on said bar, saidlocking means comprising locking members having two opposed at edgeportions the distance between which is greater than the largesttransverse dimensions of said bar, said bar and reaction member beingadapted to permit the belt to be moved through the buckle member whensaid buckle member and tongue member are separated and tension is placedon either belt portion, one of said at edge portions of each lockingmember engaging said top flat wall and the other flat edge portionengaging said tongue member when the latter is inserted in said bucklemember to lock said bar against rotation, said bar and reaction member,when said tongue member is inserted in said buckle member and saidlocking members are holding said bar against rotation, cooperating toclamp the belt therebetween for preventing movement of said lbelt whentension is placed on one of said belt portions, the belt being movablewhen tension is placed on the other belt portion.

2. A safety belt buckle assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidbuckle member has slots therein in which the ends of said bar arelocated for forming the slidable mounting of the latter, said bar, whensaid locking members are engaged by said tongue member, sliding in saidslots to the position wherein said flat edge portions are engaged bysaid top flat wall and tongue member.

3. A safety belt assembly associated with a seat unit mounted on asupport unit comprising an elongated belt, means anchoring one end ofsaid belt to one of said units at one side of said seat unit, dispensingmeans connected to the other end and adapted to dispense said belt, saiddispensing means being connected to one of said units and havingretraction means for subjecting said belt to tension to reduce slacktherein between said dispensing means and said anchoring means, alocking mechanism comprising a buckle member through which said beltpasses vand a tongue member adapted to be releasably connected to saidbuckle member, said tongue member'. being connected to one of said unitsat the other s ide` of said seat unit, said buckle member having controlmeans adapted to permit said belt to pass through the buckle member whensaid buckle and tongue members` are separated and when tension is placedon said belt,v said tongue member actuating said control means toprevent movement of the belt in a direction which would increase thelength of the belt between said buckle and said means anchoring said oneend of said belt, said control means comprising a bar extending acrosssaid buckle member and adapted to have the belt trained' around it,support members `extending axially from the outer end thereof, saidbuckle member having slots in' the sides thereof, said support membersextending into said slots to mount saidl bar for sliding movement andVunlimited rotation when said buckle and tongue members are separated,generally polygonal locking heads on the ends of said bar adjacent saidsupport members, said bar being rotatable when said tongue and bucklemembers are separated, said tongue member, upon insertion into saidbuckle member, engaging said locking heads and moving the latter to `aposition wherein the heads are held against rotation to lock the baragainst rotation.

References Cited BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R.

